Generative Grammar's Grave Foundational Errors / Paul M. Postal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Postal, Paul M., author.

Series:

Empirical Approaches to Linguistic Theory ; 27.

Language and Linguistics E-Books Online, Collection 2025.

Empirical Approaches to Linguistic Theory ; 27

Language and Linguistics E-Books Online, Collection 2025

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Languages and Linguistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (205 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2025.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This work critically examines Noam Chomsky’s widely accepted ontological assumptions—now referred to as "biolinguistics"—and demonstrates that they are internally inconsistent. Notably, Chomsky himself has, at least once, acknowledged this issue. Additionally, we challenge a fundamental claim from Chomsky’s linguistic theories of the 1950s: that natural languages, particularly English, operate on constructive (proof-theoretic) grammars, also known as generative grammars. This assertion fails to account for numerous linguistic structures that fall outside its framework. Finally, we scrutinize Chomsky’s frequent assertion that "there is essentially only one language on Earth," revealing it to be more rhetorical than substantive. By exposing these foundational flaws, this work calls for a reassessment of key aspects of Chomskyan linguistics.

Contents:

Editorial Foreword

1 Introduction

2 The Foundational Admission

1 Background

2 Incoherence

3 Incoherence Highlighted

4 The Admission: 1

5 The Admission: 2

6 The Analyticity Contradiction

7 Biolinguistics vs. Katz’s Platonist Conception of Natural Language

8 Natural Language and Knowledge of Natural Language

9 Ethical Issues

10 The Manufacture of Consent

3 Natural Languages Are Not Generative Systems

Part 1: Generative Beginnings

Part 2: Theoretically Ignored Sentences

Part 3: Implications

4 The One Language Claim

1 A Deceptive Claim

2 ‘Peripheral’/‘Minor’ Differences

3 Space Alien Scientist Opinion

4 Lack of Good Faith

5 Lack of Motivation

6 Conclusion

5 Conclusion

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: M. Postal, Paul Generative Grammar's Grave Foundational Errors

ISBN:

9789004730922

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004730922 DOI